Let’s…Thank our Clients!
Welcome back, everyone! I am so excited to regroup on a concept that we love to remind you of each holiday season. Something that’s close to home and contributes to a huge amount of our success at Esquire is…our clients!
Do you have to reach out to clients during the holiday season? If the answer is ‘Yes!’, Personal touches like the below can make or break professional relationships and also help you to stand out as a lifetime partner. Just like you would from a boss or teammate, clients take note of those who reach out and store that information away for later, so be sure to follow these three tips.
Let’s Thank our Clients and Partners!
- Get Ahead and Prepare: Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, or any other holiday, make sure to plan out your approach in advance! Don’t cut it too close to Christmas day or do anything to jeopardize the delivery of a letter, note, gift, or anything that travels by mail. Sending thanks early is also important as it will allow you to get ahead of and potentially avoid windows during which many employees or the company are on holiday leave or PTO. Be sure to think about your industry and when reaching out will be most beneficial to each client at hand!
- Cover all of Your Bases: We strongly encourage that you take a ‘one size fits all’ approach to gifting. Whether you have legal or HR considerations and limitations on what you can gift to external clients, or generally have different relationships across partners, it’s important to avoid playing favorites or showcasing disproportionate appreciation. Before sending out your thanks or gifts, make sure to run through the variety of projects, partnerships, deals, and other interactions you’ve played a part in throughout the whole year to make sure you’re accounting for everyone at hand!
- Extra Gift Ideas: Flowers, chocolates, custom cups, hand-written notes, nice soap or lotion for the office, a succulent, anything to do with coffee and caffeinating in the AM, or any other useful resource for an in-office setting.
- Be Personal! When able, we strongly encourage you to try and be as personal as possible in your gifting process. If you have a long-lasting relationship with a client, know that they enjoy certain trinkets or things that are giftable, have mentioned continuous interests in your conversations, or have otherwise alluded to things that bring them happiness… provide it! It sounds obvious, but taking small notes throughout the year during conversations to track certain ideas that will help you gift in the holiday season is a great way to get ahead of planning and provide yourself with ease when the time to gift comes.
- Maintain Relationships: Above all, make sure this isn’t the only time you reach out each year! If someone is your client, it’s likely that your relationship is a 2-way street. For that reason, make sure to show that you care throughout the year by checking in, setting up catch-up connects, and otherwise perpetuating the relationship on both a professional and lightly personal level.
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